Hello. My ISAs seem to have all but stopped laying. They're supposed to be 2.5 years old, now. We've had them for a year. They layed well for 6 months then petered out. Our EEs and Wyandottes are the only ones laying, now. I might get 1 egg every week from 7 Browns!
Are they older than we were...
On the left: Wilimena. We noticed her getting bald spots with angry red skin, particularly where the rooster grabs onto her wings/back, as well as the front of her neck. We could see new feathers coming through.
We could find no bugs and the other 19 birds in the flock have beautiful plumage...
Is it necessary to butcher them so young? We were hoping to keep a few through the winter, to help keep everyone warmer in the coop, and just butcher as wanted for a meal. Ours are 4 weeks old, now.
They're supposed to be 5 weeks old. I think the larger one is a roo. They're supposed to be a Wyandotte cross of some sort. As you may tell, I don't have a whole lot of faith in the people selling chicks out of the truck of their car, lol. We wanted some colour in our flock of Browns. Our six...
Thanks for your advice, all. I'm going to wait out some flock dynamic changes for a few weeks. The Turkey is going, new chicks will be integrated and the Roo himself might even go, if hubby wins the 4:30 am crowing debate.
Our poor raggedy Anne is still happy and cooing about. I've noticed...
Yes we have one Turkey. He has not bothered with the hens. Very protective of the yard. He's going to be on our plates soon, tho. Between chasing our 5 year old son around, intimidating my clients (kennel) and eyeing up the new chicks we're prepping to integrate, I'm done. Lol!
I should add some more info...
Our flock free ranges 2 acres, locked in the coop at night. All of our hens are identical and other than the bottom two, are indistinguishable. Second from the bottom has good feathers coming in.
We never witness anyone but the rooster agressing and they seem to...
I have 10 layers + 1 roo (& a Tom). The ladies recently went through a molt and I'm happy to say are looking MUCH better.
I do have one hen with very specific bald spots. The front of her neck and a matching pair on the top of either wing. She also has the same bald spot on top of her head as...
Thank you very much, everyone! I will continue to lurk around and learn everything I can! I will also source out some oyster shell.
We have always had good shells on all our eggs, just the inside material and external shape varies a tad... They're just approaching their second summer, now. We...
Hello all! We've had our girls for just over a month, now. Hubby built a great coop for them and we've fenced in a great little yard. We still are arguing about which breed they are, however... Someone told us RIR and someone else, Red Star. Hopefully, my pictures are good enough for some gurus...